What's New :: News :: School Employees Credit Union of Washington

What's New

Retirement Central - practical help to get your retirement on track

We've added another FREE benefit to help members keep more of their hard-earned money. Your membership now includes access to Retirement Central, a comprehensive suite of free retirement planning and educational tools.

Whether you're decades from retirement or looking forward to it soon, Retirement Central has something for you. In mid-November 2009, you can access it from this website by clicking "IRAs & Retirement Central" under the "Accounts & Services" tab.

These are just some of the features you'll find:

Life Stages. Planning to retire early? Getting married? Newly laid off? Retirement Central gives detailed advice for 11 life stages and circumstances that impact retirement. In just a few clicks, you can zero in on information that you'd swear was written just for you.

Frequently Asked Questions. Navigating options for your employer's retirement plans, Social Security, Medicare, and IRAs can leave you feeling like you're exploring a foreign land. Get detailed answers written in plain English to common questions like "What kinds of income qualify as 'earned income' for IRA purposes?"

Planning. Check out retirement calculators that let you run all sorts of what-if scenarios. Among the tools you'll find: early payout planners, beneficiary planners, IRA eligibility planners, rollover and conversion planners, and more.

Manage Your Account. We love this feature! Sometimes, it's hard to tell which form you need to make a change to your credit union IRA. When you choose "Service an Existing IRA," you'll answer a few questions that guide you to the right form. Then you simply fill it out online, print, and mail it to us.

Remember: Everything on this site is FREE and available to you as a credit union membership perk.

Our "NEW" Skip-a-Payment program may help you when money is tight

Now, you may be able to defer your usual monthly loan payment without affecting your credit rating.

Our unique Skip-a-Payment program allows you to skip two payments in any 12-month period (as long as the skips are at least 90 days apart). The missed payment is simply added to the end of your loan term, for example, making a 60-month loan a 61-month loan.

Each skip requires a $20 processing fee, which can be deducted from any of your credit union accounts. Skip-a-Payment is available only on select loans for members whose accounts are in good standing.

For more information, please log in to Online Banking and click the "Self-Service" tab or click here for the FAQ's on Skip-a-Payment.

External Transfers benefits now available

Our most recent upgrade includes these helpful features:

Improved onscreen instructions and e-mail communications.
More options and flexibility for scheduled recurring transfers.
Account nicknames, transaction categorization, and other features to help you more easily identify your accounts and track transactions.

You'll also see changes on the main navigation menu:

The "Add Accounts" tab has been renamed "Manage Accounts. "
The sub-navigation "External Accounts" tab has been renamed "My Bank Accounts." The "Investment Accounts" tab has been renamed "My Brokerage Accounts. "

Your credit union's still a safe haven for your money

You may have heard recent news reports about some well-known banks and even a few credit unions having weakened capital levels. We applaud actions by both regulators and the institutions themselves to ensure the continued safety of consumers' money. At the same time, we want to re-emphasize that School Employees Credit Union of Washington remains well capitalized.

Despite current economic conditions, your credit union has maintained a net worth ratio well above regulatory requirements. That's peace of mind you can count on now and in the future.

From its founding days during the Great Depression, your credit union has followed a conservative money-management philosophy of financial strength over size:

We did not participate in the high-risk investments that got so many financial institutions in trouble. During the past few years of market excesses, we've steadfastly maintained a conservative investment position.
We've stayed true to our core membership of school employees, who have a long history of living within their means and paying back their loans on time.
We are not experiencing the rates of increased loan defaults seen in other parts of the financial-services industry.

Your deposits are federally insured to $100,000 by NCUA (the credit union equivalent of FDIC). However, between Oct. 3, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2013, NCUA coverage has increased to $250,000. We also purchase private insurance to guarantee you an additional $250,000 on top of the NCUA limit, providing you with a total of $500,000 in insurance coverage.

While we haven't seen the last of challenging financial times as a nation, you can feel good knowing that your money is safe at your credit union. We're a financially strong credit union and continue to provide our members with the financial assistance they seek in achieving their personal goals.

e-Notices available through Online Banking

Important Messages about your account are a few quick mouse clicks away!

e-Notices are available on the secure, personal Online Banking site for all e-Statements users. They’ll replace notices previously sent to members via U.S. Mail letting them know about account upgrades, IRA distributions, past-due payments, non-sufficient funds checks, and more. It’s a double-win: saving trees while getting the information to you faster!

You’ll receive an e-mail whenever an e-Notice is posted for you on your secure Online Banking site. You can access it from the “e-Statements & Notices” tab within Online Banking

e-Notices, which we initiate, are different from the automated e-mail or text notifications that you set up to alert yourself to status changes in your accounts (for example, when your account balance rises above or falls below a level you’ve set, when a specific check has cleared, or when loan payments are due). Those remain unchanged.

Trim your paper trail with electronic services

In the fight against mail fraud and identity theft, security experts encourage consumers to move away from paper-based transactions (checks, traditional statements) in favor of high-quality electronic services. To make sure you’re taking advantage of all the electronic services available to you, please take a moment to browse our Self-Service pages.